Date: August 25
Leave a Legacy
The Point: Godly living impacts future generations.
Get Into the Study
Use the following information to introduce Question #1.
Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo share an unusual claim to fame. They are this year’s champions at the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest. Chestnut is the men’s champ. He ate 71 hot dogs. Sudo is the women’s champ. She ate 33 hot dogs. This was Chestnut’s 12th win in the competition. And for Sudo, it was her sixth straight win. Nathan’s has hosted this competition in Coney Island, New York, since 1972, with huge crowds of people coming to watch each year. Chestnut and Sudo both took home a $10,000 prize for eating all those hot dogs.
Say: Chestnut and Sudo’s unusual achievement is eating an extreme amount of hot dogs in a short period of time. Then call attention to Question #1 (If you could be known for one unusual achievement, what would it be?) and invite volunteers to respond.
Information for this post was gleaned from:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/04/us/nathans-hotdog-eating-contest/index.html
Study the Bible
Use the following information to supplement Question #2.
This past June, a Sending Celebration was held in Birmingham, Alabama, during the 2019 Southern Baptist Convention meeting. At the Sending Celebration, the International Mission Board recognized 26 new missionaries who are heading out to spread the Gospel around the world. David and Zoey Lee were two of those new missionaries. “Many missionaries came to Korea and laid down their lives for our people,” said David Lee. “We would not be able to stand here without their obedience to God’s call.” The Lees and their three children are headed to Madagascar to share the Gospel among the Sub-Saharan African people.
Say: David and Zoey Lee acknowledge that they go out as missionaries today because missionaries in the past came to their homeland—Korea—to share the Gospel there. Then call attention to Question #2 (How have you benefitted from the spiritual legacy of those who’ve gone before you?) and invite volunteers to respond.
Information for this post was gleaned from:
http://www.bpnews.net/53085/26-new-missionaries-obey-gods-call-to-the-nations
— Donna McKinney wrote these Leader Extras. Donna is retired from a career with the federal government of the United States. She is a veteran Bible study group leader living in North Carolina.
Additional Questions
Icebreaker
- What important lesson did you learn from a parent, grandparent, or family member?
- What priorities or characteristics have been passed down from one generation to the next in your family?
- What kind of legacy would you like to leave?
2 Chronicles 17:1-6
- How can we recognize godly leaders?
- What words in this passage indicate that Jehoshaphat’s devotion to God was real?
- What benefits did Jehoshaphat receive from King Asa’s legacy?
2 Chronicles 17:7-9
- What tools have you found useful in studying God’s Word?
- How can we be better prepared to teach others God’s Word?
- What rewards have you experienced from personal or group Bible study?
2 Chronicles 17:10-13
- What opportunities exist for us to bless the generations that come after us?
- How does this slice of Judah’s history motivate you?
- What obstacles might prevent us from being a godly influence on others?
Member Extra
Send the following link to your group members as either a teaser before the group meets or as a follow-up thought:
Influencing Those Who Come Behind Us
Video
Here’s a brief video giving you an overview of this session: Living a Godly Life, Session 6.
Magazine Article
This article complements the study. Share this link with your group members.
- HomeLife – Perils in the Playground
In our study of 2 Chronicles 17:7-9, our class was discussing what the particular
assignments were of the officials(princes), the nine Levites and the two priests. There was a specific question of what the two priests did. The leader guide indicated these priests offered sacrifices and burnt offerings, but one person said she thought they could only do that at the temple in Jerusalem. I did research but could find no clear explanation as to what these two priest were assigned to do and could they offer sacrifices throughout the kingdom, at any location, for the repentant people? Thank you for any clarification you can give.
Regarding the place of sacrifice, the person in your class is correct. In Deuteronomy 12, God instructs the Israelites that they are only of offer their sacrifices at one place, the place among the tribes that God chooses for His Name to dwell (see Deut. 12:1-7,13-14). This would have been either the tabernacle, or later the temple.
Regarding the duties of the priests, the article “Priests” in the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary notes, “Priesthood in the OT primarily involved sacrificing at the altar and worship in the shrine [This would have been the temple or tabernacle depending on the time period]. Other functions were blessing the people (Num. 6:22-26), determining the will of God (Exod. 28:30), and instructing the people in the law of God (Deut. 31:9-12).”1 The task of the priests Elishama and Jehoram in 2 Chronicles 17:7-9 would have been the same as the nine Levites, to instruct the people of Judah in “the book of the LORD’s instruction” (2 Chron. 17:9). As J. A. Thompson states in his commentary on First and Second Chronicles,
“It is not certain whether the book of the law of the Lord was the book of the covenant or an edition of it (Exod 20:22–23:33; 34). It may have been a royal law code like other royal edicts. No firm conclusions can be arrived at although there is reason to think that it represents authoritative writings that regulated Israel’s life. What is clear from the text is that this group of men—officials, Levites, and priests—went around to all the cities of Judah and taught the people. In this way Israel’s faith was kept alive and nurtured.”2
1. “Priests,” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville: Holman Reference, 2015), 1299.
2. J. A. Thompson, 1,2 Chronicles , vol. 9, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994), 280.